Total daily energy expenditure (“total expenditure”) reflects daily energy needs and is a critical variable in human health and physiology, but its trajectory over the life course is poorly studied. We analyzed a large, diverse database of total expenditure measured by the doubly labeled water method for males and females aged 8 days to 95 years. Total expenditure increased with fat-free mass in a power-law manner, with four distinct life stages. Fat-free mass–adjusted expenditure accelerates rapidly in neonates to ~50% above adult values at ~1 year; declines slowly to adult levels by ~20 years; remains stable in adulthood (20 to 60 years), even during pregnancy; then declines in older adults. These changes shed light on human development and aging and should help shape nutrition and health strategies across the life span.

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Background: The Global Matrix 4.0 on physical activity (PA) for children and adolescents was developed to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the global variation in children’s and adolescents’ (5–17 y) PA, related measures, and key sources of influence. The objectives of this article were (1) to summarize the findings from the Global Matrix 4.0 Report Cards, (2) to compare indicators across countries, and (3) to explore trends related to the Human Development Index and geo-cultural regions. Methods: A total of 57 Report Card teams followed a harmonized process to grade the 10 common PA indicators. An online survey was conducted to collect Report Card Leaders’ top 3 priorities for each PA indicator and their opinions on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted child and adolescent PA indicators in their country. Results: Overall Physical Activity was the indicator with the lowest global average grade (D), while School and Community and Environment were the indicators with the highest global average grade (C+). An overview of the global situation in terms of surveillance and prevalence is provided for all 10 common PA indicators, followed by priorities and examples to support the development of strategies and policies internationally. Conclusions: The Global Matrix 4.0 represents the largest compilation of children’s and adolescents’ PA indicators to date. While variation in data sources informing the grades across countries was observed, this initiative highlighted low PA levels in children and adolescents globally. Measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, local/international conflicts, climate change, and economic change threaten to worsen this situation.

Objective: The aim was to assess associations between lifestyle behaviors and obesity in a multinational study of children from 12 countries representing a wide range of human development. Methods: The sample included 6,025 children 9-11 years of age. Behavioral risk factors included nocturnal sleep duration, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), television viewing (TV time), and healthy and unhealthy diet pattern scores. Multilevel analyses were used to obtain odds ratios for obesity expressed per standard deviation of each behavioral risk factor. Results: The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for obesity from multilevel, multivariable models

OBJECTIVES: Few studies have investigated the association between the full range of birth weight and the risk of childhood obesity in high-, middle-and low-income countries. The aim of the present study is to assess the association between different levels of birth weight and the risk of obesity among children aged 9-11 years in 12 countries. METHODS: A multinational, cross-sectional study of 5141 children aged 9-11 years was conducted in 12 countries. Height and weight were obtained using standardized methods. Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary and sleeping were objectively measured using 24-h, waist-worn accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X+) monitored for 7 days. Birth weight and other factors (regions, parental education, maternal history of gestational diabetes, children age, gender, breast feeding, gestational age, unhealthy diet scores and healthy diet scores) were collected by parental and children's questionnaires. Multilevel modeling was used to account for the nested nature of the data. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of obesity (BMI z-score4+2 s.d.) was 15.4% for boys and 10.0% for girls. There was a positive association between birth weight and BMI z-scores. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of childhood obesity were significantly higher among children whose birth weights were 3500-3999 g (OR 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-1.92), and 44000 g (OR 2.08; 95% CI: 1.47-2.93), compared with the reference group (2500-2999 g). The positive association between birth weight and the odds of childhood obesity was seen in girls, whereas a U-shaped association appeared in boys. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of birth weight, defined as birth weight ⩾ 3500 g, were associated with increased odds of obesity among 9-11-year-old children in 12 countries. However, sex differences in the association between birth weight and the risk of obesity need to be considered when planning interventions to reduce childhood obesity.

Growing socioeconomic and structural disparities within and between nations have created unprecedented health inequities that have been felt most keenly among the world’s youth. While policy approaches can help to mitigate such inequities, they are often challenging to enact in under-resourced and marginalized communities. Community-engaged participatory action research provides an alternative or complementary means for addressing the physical and social environmental contexts that can impact health inequities. The purpose of this article is to describe the application of a particular form of technology-enabled participatory action research, called the Our Voice citizen science research model, with youth. An overview of 20 Our Voice studies occurring across five continents indicates that youth and young adults from varied backgrounds and with interests in diverse issues affecting their communities can participate successfully in multiple contributory research processes, including those representing the full scientific endeavor. These activities can, in turn, lead to changes in physical and social environments of relevance to health, wellbeing, and, at times, climate stabilization. The article ends with future directions for the advancement of this type of community-engaged citizen science among young people across the socioeconomic spectrum.

OBJECTIVES: Childhood obesity is now recognized as a global public health issue. Social patterning of obesity, consistent with the theory of epidemiologic transition, has not been well described in children, and the limited research has focused on developed settings. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between childhood obesity and household income using objective measures of adiposity and to explore how this relationship differs across levels of country human development. METHODS: The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) was a multi-national crosssectional study conducted in 12 urban/suburban study sites that represented all inhabited continents and wide ranges of development. ISCOLE collected objectively measured height, body mass and percentage body fat in 7341 10-year-old children. Multi-level random-effects models were used to examine income gradients in several obesity measures. RESULTS: The mean age of the children was 10.4 years, and 12.6% were obese, ranging from 5.4% (Finland) to 23.8% (China). For both boys and girls, obesity prevalence, body fat percentage and body mass index (BMI) z-score increased linearly with higher income at lower levels of development (all P for trend ⩽ 0.0012), but decreased linearly with higher income at higher levels of development (all P for trend ⩽ 0.0003). Country human development explained 75% of the variation in the country-specific income-obesity relationships (r = − 0.87, P = 0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: Results are consistent with the theory of epidemiologic transition. Global efforts to control obesity must account for socioeconomic factors within a country's context. Future research should seek to understand global socioeconomic patterns in obesity-related lifestyle behaviors.

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